Excise revenue essential to run administration: Puducherry Chief Minister

Assembly session: Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy said excise revenue was essential for the government to run the administration in Puducherry. Read to know more.

Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy on Friday, August 9, said excise revenue was essential for the government to run the administration in the Union Territory (UT).

Responding to a question posed by BJP legislator P.M.L. Kalyanasundaram in the Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister said the earnings from liquor was a major source of revenue in the UT, next only to the earnings from commercial taxes.

There are about 545 liquor outlets in Puducherry.

In the previous financial year, the government fetched ₹1,488 crore as excise revenue; the administration has set a target of around ₹1,600 crore this financial year, he said.

“There is nothing to hide with respect to liquor policy. It is one of our major sources of revenue and we are aiming to fetch more revenue from the sector. If all legislators want to change the liquor policy, I don’t have an issue. But in the present scheme of things, revenue from excise is essential for governance,” he said, when other members also joined Mr. Kalyanasundaram in expressing apprehensions over the growing number of resto bars in the UT.

Mr. Kalyanasundaram wanted the government to relocate one such bar at Alankuppam, which was purportedly adjacent to a temple in his constituency, Kalapet. The Chief Minister said the government could consider the demand if the presence of the liquor outlet was causing inconvenience to residents.

During the question hour of the Assembly session, the Chief Minister said various programmes were in the pipeline to provide clean drinking water to the residents of the UT and meet agriculture needs.